Barbara Colombo

The effects of rTMS over the primary motor cortex: The link between action and language

Is the primary motor cortex (M1) necessary for language comprehension? The present study investigates the role of the primary motor cortex during verbs comprehension, within the framework of the embodied theories of language. We applied rTMS over the right and left hand portion of M1 and tested the effects of the stimulation toward the processing of hand-related action verbs versus abstract verbs. Results underlined a specific inhibition effect following left stimulation, only with hand-related action verbs. These findings seem to corroborate the hypothesis of a functional role of M1 in action verbs comprehension.

The Spontaneous Occurrence of Mental Visualization in Thinking

Undergraduates were asked to rate how frequently they experienced visual images in a wide set of everyday-life situations. Results showed that imagery often occurs in undirected thinking, such as in daydreaming, or when external stimuli elicit automatically a visual representation; conversely, images are seldom reported in goal-oriented thinking, such as memorizing, judging, problem-solving, planning, and decision-making. Further, the most frequent images refers to spatial representations or to single, static, concrete elements; images about more complex, dynamic, and abstract contents are less frequent. The use of mental visualization is affected selectively by gender and by the course of study attended. Finally, factor analysis stressed the distinction between stimulus-elicited and fantasy images and images used intentionally in cognitive tasks. Findings suggested that in common-life reasoning individuals do not take advantage of the properties of imagery supported by experiments about the cognitive functions of visualization.

Is Motor Simulation Involved During Foreign Language Learning? A Virtual Reality Experiment

This article presents a study performed to investigate the role of simulation in second language learning while using a virtual environment. Participants were asked to explore a virtual park while learning 15 new Czech verbs (action verbs that describe movements performed with either the hand or the foot, and abstract verbs). This learning condition was compared with a baseline condition, where movements (either virtual or real) were not allowed. The goal was to investigate whether the virtual action (performed with the feet) would promote or interfere with the learning of verbs describing actions that were performed with the same or a different effector. The number of verbs correctly remembered in a free recall task was computed, along with reaction times and number of errors during a recognition task. Results show that the simulation per se has no effect in verbal learning, but the features of the virtual experience mediate it.

Creative Cognition: How Culture Matters

The chapter outlines and critically discusses basic mental mechanisms underpinning creativity, arguing that they can be identified in different kinds of people, cultures, and historical periods. Mechanisms that define and explain creativity can be grouped within three broad categories: widening, connecting, and reorganising. Each category is discussed by the way of presenting culturally relevant examples. These examples lead to a discussion of the possible universal cognitive processes underlying creativity. Examples derived from different cultures, populations (non-eminent people vs. eminent people) and different historical times are used to support the concept of universality. As a last step, cultural variations in relation to creativity are examined. If neurological and evolutionary evidence tends to support the previously discussed concept of universality, individual evaluation of creative behaviours and conceptions about creativity varies across cultures. So, if creativity intended as a mental process could be defined as universal, two of the main features that are commonly associated to it (novelty and social appreciation) largely depend on cultural and social aspects that have to be considered when creativity is assessed.